Max osterberg and alexander fischer



No. 625,4I0. Patented May 23, I899.

ll. DSTEBBERG & A. FISCHER. APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING lGNlTlNG SPARKS.

(Application filed. Apr 21, 1898.)

(NO Iludel.)

WITNESSES: INVENTOR s m m: ngnms vnzns co. vno'mu'rnu. WASHINGTON n c UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

MAX OSTERBERG AND ALEXANDER FISCHER, OF NEW YORK, N. Y..

APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING lGNlTlNG-SPARKS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 625,410, dated May 23, 1899.

Application filed April 21, 1898. Serial No. 678,347. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern-.-

Be it known that we, MAX OSTERBERG and ALEXANDER FIsoHER, of the city,county, and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Methods of and Apparatus for Producing Igniting-Sparks, of which the following is a specification.

Our invention relates to the electric production of sparks for the ignition of gas or inflammable vapor, whether in gas-engines, apparatus for lighting gas escaping from burners'and analogous devices, or for the firing of explosives in guns, mines, and torpedoes, or for any other purpose for which electric ignition may be usefully employed.

Up to the present time the only practicable means of producing an electric spark of such power and efficienoy as to be capable of igniting, for example, the explosive mixture of air and gas in a gas-engine at predetermined intervals has been an induction-coil having in its circuit a rapidly-acting automatic circuit-breaker or buzzer and also a simple circuit-closer, switch, or commutator, which being actuated at predetermined intervals sets the buzzer in operation. It has hitherto been regarded as practically established that such a make and break in the circuit as would ordinarily be caused by the last-mentioned circuit-closer, switch, or commutator alone will not produce a spark of sufficient intensity to insure proper ignition; or, in other words, leaving out of consideration the application of the induction-coil specifically to a gas-engine and referring to the matter therefore, broadly, it has hitherto been regarded as well settled that with an inductioncoil of given proportions and asource of current of given power it is not possible to produce a spark of as highintensity without the buzzer in conjunction with the circuit-closer as with it. On the other hand, it is also well-known that the presence of the buzzer is objectionable for several reasons, among which maybe mentioned rapid oxidation and burning ofits contacts, waste of current energy thereat, and its rapid deterioration, so that the apparatus might become inefficient in its working at any instant which could not be foreseen. This uncertainty may especially occur in circumstances where by reason of the construction of the particular device in which the igniting apparatus is embodied the buzzer may be inclosed, and hence not under immediate observation. As a consequence the effective lifetime of the apparatus rests upon the continued integrity of the buzzer rather than upon that of the other associated parts.

In cases of application of the electric spark to the firing of guns mines, and torpedoes it is especially important that this cause of possible failure should be eliminated; or, to put it another way, it is of great moment that the electric-igniting apparatus of war mate rial should be of such construction that it can be relied upon to produce so powerful a spark as to insure immediate ignition of the explosive at the instant that it is required. An example of electric-igniting apparatus which failed to work at the critical moment,although apparently at the outset adequate for its purpose, is found in that attached to some of the torpedoes of the lllerrimac when that vessel was sunk during the late war in the harbor of Santiago.

WVe have discovered, and we believe the discovery to be in every sense broadly new, that We can eliminate the buzzer entirely and produce powerful and efficient sparks adequate to any purpose of electric ignition as now practiced in the arts by means of an induction-coil having in the circuit a simple thereof is placed in shunt relation to the primary, and we arrange the spark-terminals in the secondary circuit. We prefer also to arrange our circuit-breaker in such a way as that a single rapid break is produced after a relatively long period of closure, this period being sufficiently long to enable the current to reach its full value before the rupture determining the spark is made. We have practically constructed this apparatus, and we have used it upona gas-engine, and we have thus demonstrated its thorough efficiency in apparatus of that kind; butitsemployment in gas-engines is only one embodiment of it, and we do not limit ourselves to such an embodiment, but desire it to be distinctly understood that we claim the invention, broadly, for any and all uses and in any and all apparatus in which it may be advantageously employed.

The accompanying drawing is an electrical diagram illustrating the various parts and their relation symbolically.

A represents the primary circuit, in which is the source of electricity B and the primary coil 0. Included in said primary circuit isa circuit-breaker, which may consist of a fixed contact D and a spring-contact E, normally separated. Acting on the spring-contact E is shown a cam F on a rotary shaft G, which shaft may be rotated by the pulley and belt H. At every rotation of the cam G the spring E is brought into contact with the plate D, thus closing the circuit, or, in other Words, the circuit is made and broken at each rotation of the cam G. We do not limit ourselves to this particular form of mechanical circnit-breaker.

I is the secondary circuit,which includes the secondary coil J and the terminals K and L, between which is the gap over which the spark passes. The terminals of the secondary circuit are shown as connected to the primary circuit at H and N, so that the primary and secondary coils are therefore in shunt relation. It is not essential that the connection should be made at the precise points M and N, but the primary and secondary coils may be connected at any point so long as the shunt relation between them which we have pointed out is observed.

We claim 1. In an electric-spark-producing apparatus, the combination of a primary coil and circuit-breaker in circuit therewith, and in shunt with said primary coil and in inductive relation thereto a secondary coil, and spark-terminals included in the circuit thereof, substantially as described.

2. In an electricspark-producing apparatus, the combination of a primary coil, a circuit-breaker in circuit therewith, means for mechanically operating said circuit-breaker, and in shunt with said primary coil and in inductive relation thereto a secondary coil and spark-terminals in the circuit thereof, substantially as described.

3. In an electric-sparkproducing appara tus, the combination of a primary coil, a circuit-breaker in circuit therewith, means for mechanically operating said circuit-breaker to produce a single rapid break after a relatively long period of closure of said circuit, and in shunt with said primary coil and in inductive relation thereto a secondary coil and spark-terminals in the circuit thereof, substantially as described.

- MAX OSTERBERG.

ALEXANDER FISCHER.

WVitnesses:

ALICE PEARCE, A. BENTLER, Jr. 

